


The New Neighbor

by thatwriterlady



Series: October Drabbles 2017 [7]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Autism Spectrum, Carpenter Dean, Castiel Has Aspergers, Fluff, M/M, Neighbors, Prompt Fic, Writer Castiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-10 08:42:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12295536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatwriterlady/pseuds/thatwriterlady
Summary: Dean has a new neighbor that just moved in, and when he meets the man's brother, he's under the impression that his neighbor is rather shy and reclusive.  Apparently the man's brother doesn't know him very well at all.





	The New Neighbor

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for the crummy summary but I am sick as a dog today. I have a horrible migraine and I'm barely functional at the moment, but...I wrote this, and while I don't particularly like it, I don't have it in me to start over and write something different. My head just hurts too much. I've been nauseous since I woke up and then the migraine started a few hours ago, so now I feel like I'm dying on top of everything else. I hope you guys like this one. If you don't, I won't take it personally. The word for today was "Shy". 
> 
> Good news though. I saw my primary doctor yesterday. I'm back on meds again for my depression, so hopefully I'll start getting that and my anxiety under control. I also have to start physical therapy soon for a fall I took back in February when I injured my right knee. It never healed. It all ties in to the autoimmune disease I have that affects the tissue in my body. Ligaments and tendons don't heal fast when they're injured. He said I was smart to find a good brace like I did and wear it constantly. If I hadn't, I'd be looking at surgery rather than therapy. So yay me, lol. Bad news? Migraines and tremors are permanent. No migraine meds will ever fully make them go away, and the tremors will be with me for the rest of my life. I'm not happy about that, but on the bright side? They're not telling me it's Parkinson's. I go back to the Neuro next month. Hopefully I'll know more at that point. I just am so tired of migraines. 7 days in a week and I have migraines at least 6 of those 7 days, and most of those are between level 8 and level 10 migraines. And there's nothing I can do about those because I only take medicine once a day for them, and that's at night before bed. The doctor did not give me anything to take for on the spot ones. I wish he had though. I am off to work on the prompt for tomorrow, provided my head stops feeling like it wants to explode.

**Day 7~**

**Shy~**

“Hey, who’s the new guy?”  Dean looked up from where he was watering his flowers at the house across the street because there couldn’t possibly be anywhere else his nosey little brother could staring.

 

“I have no idea.  Jody over in 211 tried to introduce herself last week and she described him as ‘closed off’.  I don’t know what that means.  Becky Rosen has been stopping by every day to drop off food though.  He hasn’t opened the door for her once.”

 

“I wouldn’t open the door for Becky Rosen either.”  Sam snorted and took a sip of his water.  Speaking of, Becky was walking down the street right then, walking her Maltese ‘Hans’.  She waved enthusiastically and he pretended not to notice.  If he did, she’d make her way over.  Dean chuckled as he moved from his roses to his hydrangeas, pausing whenever he spotted a weed to pluck it.

 

“She’s the neighborhood welcoming committee.  Took me a month after I moved in to make it clear that I was not the man for her after I moved in.”

 

“She’s the reason I moved six miles away.”  Sam admitted.

 

“I do not blame you for that one.”

 

“Is that him now?  I saw a different guy going into the house before.”  Sam was less than subtle in his pointed and Dean rolled his eyes before looking over his shoulder at the house across from his.  A man with dirty blonde hair and a green military jacket was climbing the stairs to the house across the street.  Until he spotted them, that was.  Suddenly he was jogging down the steps and coming over to greet them.

 

“Hey there, you’re my brother’s new neighbors.  Nice to meet you, I’m Gabe.”

 

“I’m Dean, this is my house.  This is my brother Sam, he’s just visiting.”  Dean shook hands with Gabe who nodded before shaking Sam’s hand too.

 

“My brother, has he introduced himself at all?”

 

“No.”  Dean shook his head.  Gabe frowned.

 

“I apologize for that, he’s still getting settled.  His name is Castiel.  He’s a writer and, well, he’s a bit of a recluse.  I say he’s shy around strangers, he insists he’s an introvert.  Either way, he’s on the spectrum and sometimes forgets his manners.  The move has him a bit overwhelmed and I’ve been coming over when I can to help him unpack.” 

 

“There’s no rush.  He can come meet the neighbors in his own time or not at all.  No one’s going to judge.  I’ve lived here eight years and I don’t even know everyone.”  Dean said.  “I’m not as social as I used to be.”

 

Gabe eyed the flowers in Dean’s yard.  One of the man’s favorite hobbies was gardening and he had beautiful gardens in his front and backyard. 

 

“Your yard is beautiful.  Are you good at identifying plants too?”

 

“Yeah, sure.”  Dean replied.

 

“Could you help me figure out what one of the plants is in my brother’s backyard?  I’ve never seen anything like it.  He wants to keep it because it’s pretty but he has a cat that likes to lounge around on his deck and I worry she might try to eat the flowers.  Do you have a minute to maybe take a look?  There are a few others he’s been trying to look up as well, but it’s slow going.  It seems that one of the previous owners liked to garden but someone let the yard go to ruins and it’s so badly overrun with kudzu and weeds it’s hard to tell what anything is.”

 

Dean winced at the mention of kudzu.  That stuff was murder to get rid of.

 

“Let me grab my shoes, I’ll be right back.”

 

He went inside and after putting on his gym shoes, he changed into a clean tee shirt as well.  When he headed back outside Becky was there, talking Sam’s ear off while Gabe stared on in mild distress.

 

“Be back in a bit, Sammy.”

 

“I, uh, gotta go home, Dean.  I have so much work to catch up on.”  Sam’s eyes darted down to where Becky was crowding right into his personal space, forcing him to back up.

 

“Don’t step on my roses.”  Dean warned.  “I’ll see you another time then.”

 

Sam nodded and Dean turned to follow Gabe across the street.

 

“Is she the woman that has been causing my brother to have such high anxiety since he moved in?  He says some woman comes by every day ringing his doorbell.  He won’t answer the door for strangers.”

 

“Yeah, that’s Becky.”  Dean sighed.  “She’s…pushy.”

 

“I noticed.  And I think she’s got the hots for your brother.”

 

“She’s had the hots for my brother for years.  Any single man that moves into the neighborhood, she zeros in on them immediately.  I nipped that real quick though when I got here.”  Dean huffed.

 

“She too annoying?”  Gabe asked.

 

“I’m gay.  I immediately became uninteresting, so she zeroed in on my brother.  I told him to tell her he’s gay too, just to get her to leave him alone.  He’s bi, but he’s too honest sometimes for his own good, and so for eight years now she has been chasing after him.”

 

“My brother will be glad to know there’s at least one other gay man in the neighborhood.  Where he lived last, he was the only one and as if he wasn’t already a loner, that made people alienate him even more.  So I told him to move.”

 

“I think he’ll like it here, this is a nice mix of families and single people.  If it leaks that he’s gay, Becky will leave him alone, it’s guaranteed.”  Dean winked and Gabe laughed.

 

“Well, we’ll have to make sure she hears that then.”

 

They went around the side of the house and through the gate that led into the backyard.  Dean whistled as they stepped into what looked like a jungle.

 

“Damn, this needs a lot of work.”

 

“I know.  I’m thinking of hiring a landscaping company to come in and clear it out for him. It’s a hot mess.”  Gabe agreed.

 

“He really shouldn’t let the cat out here until all of this is cleaned up.  There could be whole nests of snakes living in this brush.”  Dean said as he pointed to the thickest parts.  “I don’t know where he lived before, but we have plenty here, including rattlers.”

 

“Shit, really?”  Gabe looked nervously around the yard.  “I don’t even want to be out here until it’s cleaned up.”

 

“Are these the flowers you’re talking about?”  Dean asked as he walked over to some flowers hanging off the side of the deck.

 

“Yes.”

 

“This is honeysuckle.  Smells like heaven.  Nectar tastes good too.”

 

“Is it dangerous?”  Gabe asked.

 

“Nah.  But it can be invasive, which is why it’s tangling up with the kudzu and taking over the yard like it is.” Dean pointed out all the places where it was weaving through the overgrowth.

 

“Gabe?”

 

Dean and Gabe both turned at the sound of the deep voice in the kitchen doorway.  Blue eyes were watching them with an intensity like nothing Dean had experienced before.

 

“Cassie, this is your neighbor, Dean.  Dean, is my brother Castiel.  Most people call him Cas though.  Can he call you Cas?”  Gabe directed the question to his brother.  The man was staring hard at Dean, seemingly studying him.  He was beautiful in an intense sort of way.

 

“That would be acceptable.”

 

“Now is where you actually say hello.”  Gabe prompted.

 

“I’m not an idiot.”  Cas snapped.  He stepped out of the house and onto the deck.  “Hello, Dean, it’s nice to meet you.  You live in the house with all of the nice flowers, do you not?”

 

“That’s right.  It’s nice to meet you, Cas.”  Dean nodded in greeting feeling it was probably safer than offering his hand if he didn’t know for sure how the man would react.

 

“You’re not related to the woman that keeps coming over with the food, are you?”  Cas asked.  Dean snorted and shook his head.

 

“No way.  That’s Becky Rosen and no one wants to be associated with her.  I live alone.  Becky lives at the house on the corner.”

 

“She is…”  A small furrow formed between Cas’ eyebrows but Dean understood what he was unable to say.

 

“Yeah, she really is.”

 

Cas relaxed and smiled.  “My yard is awful.”

 

“It has potential.  You have a lot of beautiful honeysuckle.”

 

Cas touched one of the orange flowers.  “I thought that’s what it might be.”

 

“So…your brother here says you’re a writer.  Anything I might have read?”  Dean asked.

 

“It’s possible.  I’ve written 32 books so far.  I write under a pseudonym, James Novak.”

 

Dean’s eyes immediately sparked with recognition.  “I love your books, man!”

 

Cas smiled shyly.  “Thank you.”

 

“Do you need help getting rid of the kudzu and taming back the honeysuckle?  Were you planning on doing some gardening?”  Dean asked.

 

“I would like to, yes.  Gardening is a favorite hobby of mine.  One of the reasons I chose this house was because the front and backyard have so much potential, but I also saw how lovely your yard was.  I’d like to have something nice like that too.”

 

“I have time in between my work to help.  I think if your brother helps, and maybe even my brother, we could get all of this cleaned out in a couple of weekends.  Before the end of summer.  Then you can get whatever bulbs you wanted to have come up in the spring planted before the cold sets in.”

 

Cas came down the stairs, walking over to where his brother and Dean were standing.  He walked right up to Dean, not seeming to recognize the need for personal space.

 

“I like peony.  I would like a few to put near the side of the deck.  What are those lovely peach colored roses you have?  I really like those.  Oh, and I am thinking of putting some lavender out front.  Would that be too many colors though?  Orange and purple and pink and maybe some red roses too?”

 

“Not if you organize them right.  They can be put in different beds and would look great.  I have all kinds of flowers but I planned out all of the beds first before I planted anything.  It took me several years to get everything to look the way I wanted.”  Dean said.  “I can try to get some clippings from my plant, see if they take for you.”

 

“I would appreciate that.”  Cas smiled warmly before suddenly startling.  “Oh!  Where are my manners?  Would you like something to drink?  I have iced tea, or perhaps beer?”

 

“Iced tea is good.”  Dean replied.  Cas nodded and hurried back into the house.

 

“He forgot me.”  Gabe sighed.

 

“What?  He’ll bring you some.”  Dean said.  Gabe shook his head.

 

“Nah, that’s not how my brother’s brain works.  He’s trying to impress his new neighbor.  I’m his brother.  Just wait.” 

 

Cas returned with a single glass of iced tea and Dean caught the smirk on Gabe’s face as it was handed to him.

 

“Thank you, Cas.”  Dean said before taking a sip.  Cas smiled, pleased with himself.

 

“When would you have time to help get this crap cut down?”  Gabe asked.

 

“Any time, really.  I work from home.”  Dean replied.

 

“What do you do?”  Cas was back in his personal space again, though he didn’t really mind all that much.

 

“I’m retired from the Army.  Now I make furniture in my garage. Sells pretty well too.”

 

“Do you make outdoor furniture, by chance?”  Cas asked.  “Like swings or patio sets?” 

 

“Sure.”  Dean nodded.  “The set on my front porch, I made that.  Plus the set in my backyard.  You’re welcome to come over any time and see what I’ve made.”

 

“Oh, I’d like that, thank you.” 

 

“Well, I can come over on the weekends to help you guys.  We can get started today.”  Dean offered.  “I didn’t have anything really planned except watching the game later.”

 

“That’s what Cas and I were going to do too.”  Gabe said.

 

“Well, how about I fire up the grill and you guys come over to my house when we’re done here?  We can watch the game on my big screen while we sit in the backyard.  I can turn it so we can see it through th sliding glass doors and move the speakers outside.  I like watching the game like that in the summer, but I don’t like getting mosquitoes in my house.”  Dean offered.  Cas nodded eagerly.

 

“Can I bring anything?  I have beer, and I can make some roasted potatoes.”

 

“That would be great.  I’ll make burgers, and chicken if you guys want.”  Dean said.

 

“Burgers.”  Both men said in unison. Dean laughed.

 

“Alright, burgers it is.  You have gloves?  Anything to cut this crap with?”

 

“Yes, in the garage.  I’ll go get it.”  Cas moved across the yard and disappeared into the garage.

 

“He likes you.” Gabe said.

 

“He’s a nice guy.”  Dean liked Cas.  Not just because he wrote his favorite books either.  Cas was genuinely nice.

 

“Mmm.” Gabe looked thoughtful for a moment.  “I think he might actually be happy living here.”

 

“It’s a good neighborhood.  Even Becky isn’t so bad, once you get to know her.”

 

“Any chance you might be interested in my brother?”  Gabe asked.  Dean’s eyebrows rose up as he looked over at the man.

 

“Do you always play matchmaker?”

 

“No, but he likes you.  If he didn’t, he’d keep his distance.”

 

“You’re nosey.”  Dean observed.

 

“I worry.”

 

“Worry less, he’s a grown man.”

 

Gabe nodded.  “It’s hard, but I’m trying.”

 

“The answer is yes, but it’s up to him, not me.  So keep out of it.”  Dean gave him a warning look just as Cas emerged from the garage, his arms loaded down with all sorts of gardening tools.  Dean hurried to help him carry them all and Gabe tool half of what Dean had.

 

“So where should we start?”  Cas asked, looking around the yard.

 

“I think here, by this corner, and work our way around.  It’s legal to burn here _but…”_ He looked both men in the eye.  “If you encounter anything that you even _think_ might be poison ivy, oak or sumac, set it aside and do _not_ add it to the burn pile.  Or ask me first, ok?  Burning that could kill us and make everyone in the area terribly sick.”

 

“Damn, ok.”  Gabe nodded.  “I think I can recognize it.”  He slipped on a pair of gloves.

 

“I’ll be careful as well.”  Cas agreed.”

 

They worked straight through the late morning and all afternoon until they were exhausted, but most of the kudzu was cut back and it was clear progress had been made.  They parted ways to get cleaned up, and so Dean could get the grill fired up.  He was standing at it, wearing nothing but a loose fitting pair of track pants when he heard the back gate open a while later.

 

“Hello, Dean.”  The gravelly sound of Cas’ voice sent shivers down his spine as he stepped into the yard.

 

“Hey, Cas.  Where’s Gabe?”

 

“He’s taking a shower.  He has a number of splinters he’s trying to dig out of his arms as well, so it’s taking him a bit longer.”  Cas explained.  “I put the potatoes in to roast while I was in the shower.  They’re done.”

 

“Burgers are almost done too.  Do you like cheddar?  Bacon?”

 

“Yes to both.”  Cas replied.

 

When Dean turned around Cas was looking up at the rainbow flag hanging by the back door.

 

“I had that hanging out front for a while, and while most of the neighborhood is pretty cool, there are some people that pass through `that are dicks.  During pride week though, I hang it out there.  I don’t hide who I am, I just don’t like to keep repainting my house.” 

 

“People can be quite rude.  At least I know not to put my own flag out like I wanted to.  I think I’ll put it out in my yard though.  No harm in that.”  Cas smiled so sweetly as he held out a dish to him.  Dean accepted it and set it on the patio table where he’d already laid out most everything they would need for their dinner. 

 

“Are you gay, Dean?  Is that appropriate to ask?  Gabe says I ask the wrong questions of people, so I sort of stopped asking questions at all.”

 

“I am, and you should stop letting him tell you what you should and shouldn’t do.  If you walked up to me randomly on the street and asked me that, yeah, ok, I’d be a bit put off, but you see the flag hanging in my yard and you heard what I just said, so yes, it’s an acceptable question.”

 

Cas smiled wider.  “I like you.  You don’t make me feel like I’m weird.”

 

“That’s cause you’re not weird.”  Dean shrugged.  “At least, not any weirder than anyone else.”

 

“Gabe probably told you I am on the autism spectrum.”  Cas came closer, moving again right into Dean’s personal space, not that he minded.  The man was incredibly beautiful.

 

“He did, but I think it was so I wouldn’t hurt you.” 

 

“Do you make a habit of hurting people?”  Cas asked.

 

Dean chuckled.  “No, I don’t.”

 

“Can I take you out on a date?  Would that be acceptable?”

 

Dean nodded.  “That’s totally acceptable.”

 

“Perhaps tomorrow.  I want to be rid of my brother first.  We’ll talk about it when he’s gone.  He’s nosey.”

 

Dean grinned as he turned and started taking the burgers off the grill.

 

“You know, he led me to believe you were shy and reclusive.”

 

“I am not shy, nor am I reclusive.  I am selective about the people with whom I choose to associate with.  There is a difference.”  Cas said as he helped Dean get get the food to the table.

 

“I can understand that.  I don’t associate with most of the same people I used to speak with when I was younger.  I don’t really have too many friends now and most of the ones that I do have are old friends from the Army.  They’re good people I can count on.”

 

“Hey guys, sorry it took me so long.  We ready to watch the game?”  Gabe asked as he came into the yard.  Cas and Dean shared a small smile before Dean nodded towards the patio table.

 

“Make up your burger and we’ll go relax in the chaise lounges.  They’ll give us a perfect view of the television.” 

 

They filled their plates up with food, grabbing beer and settling down to watch the game.  It turned out to be a pleasant evening and their date the following night was amazing.  Cas wasn’t half as awkward as Gabe worried he would be.  He was a little blunt and it took him a minute to realize when Dean was joking, but he picked up pretty quickly on Dean’s sense of humor, and Dean enjoyed himself a lot more than he’d expected. Cas had a wry sense of humor that he liked a lot, and he was incredibly smart. They talked about everything and anything. 

 

In between Dean’s work and Cas’ writing they continued working on the backyard.  Gabe came on the weekends to help, and Sam came sometimes too.  Becky eventually figured out Cas was off the market, but that didn’t stop her from continuing her quest for Sam.  Until a man named Chuck Shurley moved into the neighborhood…

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always welcome. Thank you for reading!


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